Assaults on Emergency Workers

Points to prove

• 1. The Sentencing Act does not create distinct offences but places a duty on the court to consider the fact that the offence was committed against an emergency worker as an aggravating factor.
• 2. Section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 applies to an offence of common assault, or battery, that is committed against an emergency worker acting in the exercise of functions as such a worker.
• 3. For the purposes of subsection (3), the circumstances in which an offence is to be taken as committed against a person acting in the exercise of functions as an emergency worker include circumstances where the offence takes place at a time when the person is not at work but is carrying out functions which, if done in work time, would have been in the exercise of functions as an emergency worker.

Defences

• No specific standalone defence was extracted from the source text; consider any applicable statutory defence, reasonable excuse, lawful authority, self-defence, necessity, consent, identification challenge, or other common-law defence on the facts.

Mode of trial & maximum penalty

Either way — Summary: 6/12 months' imprisonment and/or a fine; Indictment: 2 years' imprisonment and/or a fine

Sources

• Verified dataset — legislation.gov.uk (current revised versions)